Jane Cook Davis

(1760/61-1845)

Jane Cook Davis, the mother of Jefferson Davis, was born in North
Carolina about 1760 or '61, the daughter of noted Baptist minister
William Cook and Scotland native Jennie Strahan, reportedly a relative
of Nathanael Greene. Jane met Samuel Emory Davis
in South Carolina during the American Revolution, and they were married
right after the war in 1783. The following year she gave birth to Joseph Emory Davis, the first of their ten children, half of whom were born before the couple left Georgia about 1797.

After Samuel's death in 1824, Jane Davis remained at Rosemont. She lived long enough to see Jefferson, her youngest child, remarry,
dying in October 1845 while Jefferson was seeking a seat in the House
of Representatives. She is buried at the cemetery at Rosemont.

For more information, see Volumes 1 and 2 of The Papers of Jefferson Davis. Much of the correspondence between Davis and his parents was destroyed by Union troops in 1863.